Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re having a good day. I’m not being paid to write this blog, and it contains information based on my opinions from playing Marvel Strike Force on iOS. Marvel Strike Force is a collection-based RPG (role-playing game) which is clearly based on the Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes game. It features turn-based combat, gearing up characters, and doing multiplayer events called Alliance Raids. Marvel Strike Force’s simple mechanics won’t take too much time to learn, yet the presentation is magnificent. It’s mostly Star Wars levels of violence too. By which I mean no blood, explosions, bullets, lasers, physical altercations resulting in characters thrown through the air. Marvel Strike Force would most likely be rated Teen on other consoles. The game includes your favorite heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe. You need an internet connection to play. The game does have in-app purchases. There are no ads. My play experience has been smooth with the only issue being the freemium nature of the game. Sometimes I hate the energy system and long unlock times. Other times I’m glad it limits my playing.
Marvel Strike Force is rated 12+ for Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence and Frequent/Intense Cartoon/Fantasy Violence. An example of the violence expected is the Punisher pouring bullets into enemies and seeing them ragdoll a bit. The Punisher sometimes throws a mine with his animation and sets off an explosive. All the characters have fluid attack routines that would make many action movie stars proud (with updating the iPad it’s less smooth). There isn’t any blood in Marvel Strike Force, yet it’s more realistic than most of the Marvel cartoons with its violence and physics. It has some language parents may object to (rarely) and a few dark jokes. I’d say the rating is appropriate. The story includes you working with villains to save the earth so it can get a bit dark.
The cartoon violence of Marvel Strike Force’s combat leaves no blood. Only fading enemies. As previously mentioned, defeated characters can ragdoll or are thrown out of combat. If you and your family can watch any Marvel movies, then Marvel Strike Force is ready for you to play!
Review:
Many challenges and story events await your Strike team in Marvel Strike Force! The animations will excite you, the humor delight you, the music remind you of epic Marvel moments, and the collection slog will irritate you. Thankfully, there’s more to love than hate about Marvel Strike Force (in my opinion). The developers start you off with some decent characters useful throughout the game. I recommend paying the $10 for Captain America when offered because he is the best tank in the game. Other offers feel like cheap hooks to take your resources. Unlike Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes (GOH) Marvel Strike Force has an actual story. This already improves the formula in my mind. Events to unlock characters can remain as options for a year (Elektra and Crossbones, 2 great villain characters!). What isn’t so great is the increased greed. It takes 330 character shards to fully upgrade a character in GOH and 800 in Marvel Strike Force (according to http://marvel-strike-force.wikia.com/wiki/Character_Upgrading)! It also appears the drop rate for character shards and gear are decreased (https://www.reddit.com/r/MarvelStrikeForce/comments/885qbk/what_are_the_drop_rates_of_shards/ and from personal experience). Players from the original testing who started the game when it first came out are complaining that the developers have made decisions which make unlocking shards and completing Blitz milestones more difficult. These complaints are slightly offset by orb fragments. Just playing the game will eventually give you premium orbs and other ways to farm characters. The developers wanted to force players to use more of their rosters so I can appreciate the idea, yet it’ll take an ice age to unlock everything. Thankfully, it looks like most players are stuck around 5-star heroes in the fifties as the developers slowly increase the level cap in Marvel Strike Force. The music and sound effects are delightful on the elevator to the top!
Time: Marvel Strike Force is an energy-based collection RPG following the free-to-play freemium model. When you first start, energy is delivered to you constantly. After a few days, you are forced to slow down or pay up. Marvel Strike Force is generally a quick play, but raids and blitz modes can make long sessions. There are energy refill mechanics in play to let you continue playing like Blitz Energy and campaign energy refills. Make sure to use them or you’ll lose the refills if you’re capped. Also note the Arena and Raid matches are timed! When you start those don’t walk away from your game. I totally didn’t do this. Nope.
Pros and Cons: Marvel Strike Force has a decent leveling progression, a decent story, and it’s told with humor. There are a few cut-scenes (you tap through), good music to keep you moving, gear to collect or auto-win, and a variety of PvP and raids to keep things interesting. The combat has random elements on some characters such as Dodge, Block chance, and chain attacks. The ability to chain attacks has a percent chance. Your strategy shouldn’t depend on chance, but revel in it when fortune favors you!
Overall Impression: If you love turn-based RPG’s, collecting Marvel characters, fun character interactions, strategic combat, leveling up and increasing your power; then Marvel Strike Force is in the App Store waiting for you! If you don’t enjoy free-to-play games, being patient for unlocking things, energy systems which limit your play time, or the Marvel universe; then Marvel Strike Force may not be for you.
Tips:
- Identify who you want to farm – Marvel Strike Force has a large community already. You can find YouTube videos by MobileGamer, McMole2, and more to help you out. Most players recommend Yondu, Crossbones, Captain America, Quake, and Night Nurse. Yondu is the easiest to farm outside of events. Crossbones’ event should let you get him to 2 stars within a week. You’ll need 5 Shield characters to unlock Ironman from a Legendary event so the starting Shield characters (Shield Medic and Shield Assault) are worth farming. I recommend gearing your most powerful characters first. It’ll help you in Arena and Blitz mode.
- Adjacency is hard to determine – The ability to hit enemies adjacent to others would be better if you could see who was actually adjacent to whom. When in doubt, aim for a central target or to a character positioned mainly in the left or right part of the formation. Frankly, most single target abilities are better at destroying enemies quickly. I’ve found focus fire to be the most helpful strategy. Taking out healers or damage dealers first is the best bet. Daredevil, Shield Medic, The Punisher, and Spider-Man are good targets. Elektra can stealth and usually will after you hit her once which wastes your damage.
- Timing is everything – Raids, Blitz, and farming all depend on timing your day around the game to some degree. The game is built to have you play multiple times each day with extra energy given around every four hours or so. Free Orbs will also stack up during this time.
Extra tips: Deathproof lasts one turn after you are hit to zero (It can be upgraded to 2 turns in late game). Attacks which hit multiple times, like Daredevil’s basic, can defeat a Deathproofed character. You’ll want the Punisher and any other Blaster characters to keep up as best as possible to get you gear you’ll desperately need to level with the Catalyst of Change Challenge! Taunting with Crossbones can be counterproductive if he dies before he uses Detonate! Defense Up decreases the damage Crossbones takes from Detonate. Healing in a raid for 20 Raid Health Packs is much more effective than reviving for 50. The Medical Supply Run challenge will give you Blitz Energy and Raid Health Packs.
I hope the review and tips help you out, dear reader! Stop Ultimus and save the Multiverse!
Links: The App Store link is at https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/marvel-strike-force/id1292952049?mt=8 and the home website is at https://marvelstrikeforce.com/en/.
Disclaimer: I’m not being paid by FoxNext Games LLC or anyone else to write these tips. The only money I could make would be through advertising on this site or on YouTube at this point in time. I don’t take responsibility for the content on sites linked to from this article.
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon
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